Lawmakers confront rise in threats and fear worse

WASHINGTON >> In Bangor, Maine, an unknown visitor smashed a storm window at Sen. Susan Collins’ home.

In Seattle, a man who had sent an angry email to Rep. Pramila Jayapal repeatedly showed up outside the lawmaker’s house, armed with a semi-automatic handgun and shouting threats and profanities.

In the New York City borough of Queens, a man who had traveled across the country waited in a cafe across the street from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez’s office to confront her, part of a near-constant stream of threats and harassment that has prompted the congresswoman to switch her sleeping location at times and seek protection from a 24-hour security detail.

Members of Congress in both parties are experiencing a surge in threats and confrontations as a rise in violent political speech has increasingly crossed over into the realm of in-person intimidation and physical altercation.

In the months since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which brought lawmakers and the vice president within feet of rioters threatening their lives, Republicans and Democrats have faced stalking, armed visits to their homes, vandalism and assaults.

It is part of a chilling trend that many fear is only intensifying as lawmakers scatter to campaign and meet with voters around the country before next month’s midterm congressional elections.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed,” Collins, a Republican serving her fifth term, said in an interview. “What started with abusive phone calls is now translating into active threats of violence and real violence.”

In the five years after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016 following a campaign featuring a remarkable level of violent language, the number of recorded threats against members of Congress increased more than tenfold, to 9,625 in 2021, according to figures from the Capitol Police, the federal law enforcement department that protects Congress. In the first quarter of this year, the latest period for which figures were available, the force opened 1,820 cases. If recent history is any guide, the pace is likely to surge in the coming weeks as the election approaches.

Despite the torrent of threats, few cases result in arrest. Tim Barber, a spokesperson for the Capitol Police, said officers have made “several dozen” arrests — but fewer than 100 — in response to threats against members of Congress over the past three years, adding that the majority come from people with mental illness who are not believed to pose an immediate danger.

“The goal is to de-escalate this behavior,” said Barber. “Most of the time, getting mental health treatment may be more successful than jail in order to keep everyone safe.”

In a review by The New York Times this year of threats that resulted in indictments, more than onethird were made by Republican or pro-trump individuals against Democrats or Republicans deemed insufficiently loyal to the former president, and nearly onefourth were by Democrats targeting Republicans. In other cases, the party affiliation could not be determined.

Security concerns have grown so pressing that many members of Congress are dipping into their own official or campaign accounts to protect themselves. They have spent a total of more than $6 million on security since the start of last year, according to a Times analysis of campaign finance and congressional data.

The data suggest that the threats are particularly acute against lawmakers of color — Hispanic, Black, Asian American and Pacific Islander and Native American — who outspent their white colleagues on security by an average of more than $17,500. Democrats spent about $9,000 more than Republicans did. And members of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 assault spent over $5,000 more than the average amount spent by members of Congress as a whole.

Rep. Liz Cheney, R-wyo., who has been a frequent target of Trump’s verbal attacks, spent more than any other Republican in the House, according to the data, pouring close to $70,000 into security measures since the insurrection.

Rep. Cori Bush, D-MO., who has spoken out about the death threats she has received as a Black woman on Capitol Hill, spent the most in the House: close to $400,000.

That number pales in comparison to that of Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-GA., one of only two Black men in the Senate and the highest spender in Congress. He has doled out nearly $900,000 for his own protection since being sworn in in 2021; Sen. Ted Cruz, R-texas, was the secondhighest spender, at nearly $600,000.

Harsh and even menacing criticism of members of Congress is nothing new, but violent acts toward lawmakers were, until recently, a relatively rare phenomenon.